Mystery surrounds diver deaths in Arctic

Five hundred miles north of Alaska, a group of shipmates from the Coast Guard cutter Healy tossed a football on the blue-and-white, diamond-hard Arctic ice.

Others snapped panoramic photos and took walks during the two-hour break, stretching their legs after a month aboard the 420-foot icebreaker. Lt. Jessica Hill and Boatswain's Mate Steven Duque seized the chance for a training dive and slipped into a patch of open water near the Healy's bow. A team held ropes attached to the divers, lest they become disoriented under the ice.

Several research scientists watched from the deck. But no one knows what happened on the other end of those ropes on that cold, brilliant summer day — except that both divers died. The Coast Guard has started two investigations, relieved the Healy's captain, pulled all diving equipment off the ship and suspended all polar diving. But nothing has been said about what might have killed Hill, 31, and Duque, 22, on Aug. 17, or when the investigations will conclude. "We can get no word whatsoever, and that's tough," Hill's father, William Hill Jr., said. "We can't even get the death certificates."

The Healy was on a research mission backed by the National Science Foundation. On board were three dozen scientists collecting data that would help them map the ocean floor and study the Earth's crust to better understand earthquakes, tsunamis and plate tectonics. Hill, the ship's marine science officer and a native of St. Augustine, Fla., was an experienced civilian diver before she joined the Coast Guard about four years ago. Her shipmates described her as a fun-loving officer who, during a trip to the North Pole last year, posed on the ice in a bikini by a red and white striped pole.

Duque, whose responsibilities included keeping the Healy's decks in order, operating machinery and driving launch boats, was from Miami. Colleagues said he was exceedingly professional and inspired others to take their jobs seriously. Both attended the Navy's dive school, which is required of all Coast Guard divers. The pair had been underwater for about 10 minutes, estimated Harm Van Avendonk, a University of Texas geophysics researcher, and something appeared to be wrong. "I saw people from the bow looking intently down on the ice, and I sensed immediately that they didn't look relaxed," he said.

"It was taking a long time for the divers to reappear." In a blur, the crew's training took over, several witnesses said. The divers were pulled up by the ropes. Blankets and stretchers were rushed onto the ice, and EMTs immediately began performing CPR. The divers were carried to the ship's sick bay, where they were pronounced dead roughly two hours after the dive.

by www.thesupernaturalworld.co.uk

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Object off Alaska coast may be WWII Sub

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Underwater sonar images of a black shape against a background of grainy monochrome are safely stored on two computer hard drives at Bruce Abele's home in Newton, Mass.

Blurred by odd shadows and striations, the silhouettes are the biggest clues in more than 60 years to the fate of his father's World War II submarine, the USS Grunion, which sank nearly 5,000 miles west of Massachusetts, near the obscure islands at the tip of Alaska's Aleutian chain. For decades, relatives of the Grunion's 70 lost crewmen had no information beyond fragmented U.S. Navy records, and a few rumors, about where and why the sub went down.

They knew the Grunion had sunk two Japanese submarine chasers and heavily damaged a third in July 1942 near Kiska, one of two Aleutian islands occupied by the Japanese. They knew her last official radio message to the sub base at Dutch Harbor, on July 30, 1942, described heavy enemy activity at Kiska Harbor. They knew she still had 10 of her 24 torpedoes during that communication.

They knew Dutch Harbor responded with an order to return to the base, but they don't know if Grunion ever received it. Until a few years ago, the clues were too sparse to justify a search, said Abele, whose father, Mannert Abele, was the Grunion's commander. "We really didn't do anything about it because there was nothing, no information," Abele said. "What were we going to do?" Abele and his two brothers all married and had children. Bruce, the oldest, started working in computers in the late 1950s and later invested in Boston-area real estate.

Brad, the middle son, owned a management recruiting business and John helped found the multibillion dollar medical equipment company Boston Scientific Corp. Four years ago, a man who had heard about the Grunion's disappearance e-mailed Bruce the links to several Grunion Web sites. One site held an entirely new clue, a note from a Japanese model ship builder who said he thought he knew what had happened to the Grunion.

John Abele contacted the man, Yutaka Iwasaki, who translated and sent him a report written in the 1960s by a Japanese military officer who served in the Aleutians. A maritime magazine had recently reprinted the report.

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There is a mystical side to every war

The unknown pages of history eventually come to light as the secret archives become declassified, memoirs and witnesses’ accounts are published.

However, both historians and researchers of anomalous events are still perplexed over some mystical cases that took place in days of old. Nearly all books on abnormal events have a reference to the mysterious disappearance of the 4th Royal Norfolk Battalion during World War I. The inexplicable occurred on August 21, 1915, as the Allies were waging the bloody Battle of the Dardanelles to secure access to the seaway between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

According to eyewitness accounts by three New Zealand soldiers, the 4th Royal Norfolk Regiment was instructed to assist a unit launching an offensive against the enemy lines on Position 60. A strange cloud fell over the soldiers as they were moving along the bed of a dried-up river. The people were gone after the cloud went up and floated away. The eyewitnesses claimed the cloud looked weird (“very dense as if it was some solid structure”). Besides, the cloud moved against the wind after engulfing the soldiers.

At the end of the war the Turks confirmed that they had not captured any personnel of the 4th Royal Norfolk Battalion. There were lots of theories with regard to that mysterious disappearance. Some ufologists believed the soldiers had been snatched by UFO disguised as a cloud. Others talked about a window to the other dimension, the one that went ajar for some reasons in the above location. Yet the historians were quite skeptical about the extraordinary explanations, and with reason. First, why did it take so long for the three New Zealanders to speak out? They made the story public 50 years after the Battle of the Dardanelles. Second, it is the regiment that disappeared, not the battalion.

The numbers got confused too. It is the 5th battalion, not the 4th one, that went missing on August 12th. Third, the bodies of 122 soldiers of the 5th Royal Norfolk Battalion were eventually discovered in September 1919. Taking into the account the scale of carnage (27 thousand Allied troops were killed and buried in an unmarked mass grave), the bodies of the remaining 145 soldiers of the battalion may have been lost in the process.

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Scientists May Have Found Medici Murder

Scientists in Italy believe they have uncovered a murder - 400 years after it is thought to have taken place.

Historians have long suspected that Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his second wife, Bianca Cappello, did not die of malaria but were poisoned by Francesco's brother, Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, who was vying for the dukedom.

For four centuries that theory remained just that a theory. But following a study into the affair, forensic and toxicology experts at the University of Florence believe they have uncovered clear evidence of murder by poisoning. Francesco's "was a lethal dose, but progressive, and the symptoms were compatible with arsenic poisoning" Donatella Lippi, a professor of history of medicine and a co-author of the study, published in the British Medical Journal on Dec. 21, told The Associated Press.

As rulers, art connoisseurs and financiers of kings, the Medici flourished for centuries in the rough and tumble alliances of old Europe, ruling first the city of Florence then Tuscany from 1430 to 1737. Francesco ruled from 1574 until his death Oct. 17, 1587, at age 46, 11 days after first taking to his bed and a few hours before his wife. Scientists Francesco Mari, Aldo Polettini, Elisabetta Bertol and Lippi collected and tested beard hairs from Francesco's grave in the Medici chapels in Florence, as well as other remains found in clay jars in a crypt about 12 miles west of Florence. Bianca's grave was never found.

Tests on the beard hairs proved inconclusive but samples of Francesco's liver taken from the crypt showed levels of arsenic that were "significantly higher" than those normally found in humans, the scientists said. But if Francesco was murdered, who did it? Experts say that, though there is no proof, Ferdinando was the only person with an obvious motive.

He wanted his brother's dukedom and his behavior at the time was suspicious for example, he took charge of his brother's illness, compiling the medical bulletins and minimizing the gravity of Francesco's illness in dispatches to the Holy See.

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Solved at last: the burning mystery of Joan of Arc

France's favourite saint was martyred by her English foes, who ordered her remains to be cast into the Seine. Now scientists believe they have established the facts surrounding her execution.

Catholic saint, national icon and one of the world's most famous military leaders, Joan of Arc has been a subject of fascination for the French for almost six centuries. Now academics believe they are close to proving that controversial relics are actually those of the real-life Maid of Orleans. Much is unknown about the life of the warrior. Facts have often been mixed with myth and theory. But what is generally agreed is that Joan's body was burnt three times by the English and ashes from the foot of the pyre were supposedly discovered in 1867, lurking in the Paris loft of an apothecary. French scientists, who have been studying those ashes, confirmed yesterday that a piece of cloth found among the remains may have been a fragment of Joan of Arc's gown.

A new series of DNA tests of bones and tissue found among the ashes is expected to confirm that they belong to a female. These initial discoveries suggest recent controversial claims surrounding the death of Joan of Arc are wrong. One theory, put forward by Ukrainian anthropologist Sergey Gorbenko, suggested Joan was not even burnt at the stake but lived to the age of 57. Another theory is that she was a man. But the initial discoveries by forensic anthropologist Philippe Charlier, the project's leader, indicate that the standard version of Joan of Arc's death - by being burnt as a witch by the English - appears to be right, although the research has added intriguing detail to the story of her execution. Further tests were needed, said Charlier.

Tests on one bone found in the relics showed it was the femur of a cat. The discovery tallies with the medieval practice of throwing a black cat on a witch's pyre so as to appease the devil, according to Charlier. 'However, this femur is not burnt - it just looks it - so maybe we are just dealing with a passing cat,' he said. Charlier said the most exciting discovery by his 18-strong team at the Hôpital Raymond Poincare near Paris was in the carbon-dating of the piece of cloth. 'It is linen of high quality and we can confirm that it dates from the 15th century. It could have been a robe or a bag.' According to historians, Joan of Arc was 19 when she was burnt at the stake in Rouen by the English on 30 May, 1431. She died of smoke inhalation.

The Cardinal of Winchester is recorded as having ordered her to be burnt a second time. Her organs still survived this fire, so a third burning was ordered to destroy the body completely. Her cinders and debris were to be thrown into the Seine.

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Metal Object Crashes Through N.J. Home

A metal, rock-like object about the size of a golf ball and weighing nearly as much as a can of soup crashed through the roof of a Monmouth County home, and authorities on Wednesday were trying to figure out what it was.

Nobody was injured when the oblong object, weighing more than 13 ounces, crashed into the home and embedded itself in a wall Tuesday night. Federal officials sent to the scene said it was not from an aircraft. The rough-feeling object, with a metallic glint, was displayed Wednesday by police. "There's some great interest in what we have here," said Lt. Robert Brightman. "It's rather unusual.

I haven't seen anything like it in my career." He said he hoped to have the object identified within 72 hours, but declined to name the other agencies whose help he said he had enlisted. Police received a call Wednesday morning that the metal object had punched a hole in the roof of a single-family, two-story home, damaged tiles on a bathroom floor below and then bounced, sticking into a wall.

The object was heavier than a usual metal object of that size, said Brightman, who added that no radioactivity was detected. Brightman would not disclose the address of the house or the names of the people who lived there, citing the family's desire to not talk to the media.

He would only say that the couple and their adult son live in a township housing development. Brightman said one man who lives at the home found the object at about 9 p.m. Tuesday after returning from work and hearing from his mother that something had crashed through the roof a few hours before. The Federal Aviation Administration, which sent investigators to the town, did not know where the object came from, said spokeswoman Arlene Murray.

UPDATE:

The mysterious object that shot through the roof of a two-story home earlier this week was identified by scientists as a meteorite, police said Friday. But the fate of the extraterrestrial mass, likely formed with the solar system some 4.6 billion years ago, has emerged as another unknown in the case of the second known meteorite to fall in New Jersey.

Its new owners, a married couple with a son, expressed some interest in putting the meteorite on a small-scale tour so local schoolchildren could see it, said Jeremy Delaney, a Rutgers University meteoriticist who was among four scientists who identified the object for police and later met the family. Eventually the family will have to decide whether to keep the meteorite, give it to an academic institution such as a museum or sell it to a collector. What's for sure is that the object will be in high demand. Rarely on landings do meteorites come in contact with people. So when they do, the space artifacts are connected with a story that generates interest all around.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., both of which have extensive meteorite collections, likely will have interest, Delaney said. Depending on the rarity of a given meteorite, researchers sometimes spend several years looking at the same chunk that fell from space. "By looking at these objects, we have the ability to explore our deep, deep past," Delaney said. "Meteorites have given scientists clues about life on Mars and the rest of our solar system." New Jersey's only other known meteorite, weighing an ounce, fell in Deal in 1829.

The precise research value of New Jersey's newest meteorite won't be known unless it ends up in the hands of scientists who would study its composition. But Delaney said the Freehold meteorite might be of some interest to researchers because it is rich in metals, a sign that it came from the deep interior of an asteroid. "We all want to know where it's from and you won't get that until you do some analysis," said Peter Elliott, a Colts Neck metallurgist who also helped identify the meteorite. Its magnetic properties, color, texture and high density convinced scientists within a few minutes of inspecting it that it was a meteorite.

When the meteorite began to shoot through the Earth's atmosphere Tuesday afternoon, it likely was the size of a football, but then it quickly lost mass as its metals burned and melted on entry, Delaney said.

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Mystery as thousands of birds fall from the sky

THOUSANDS of birds have fallen from the skies over Esperance and no one knows why.

Is it an illness, toxins or a natural phenomenon? A string of autopsies in Perth have shed no light on the mystery. All the residents of flood-devastated Esperance know is that their "dawn chorus" of singing birds is missing.

The main casualties are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters, although some dead crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found. Wildlife officers are baffled by the "catastrophic" event, which the Department of Environment and Conservation said began well before last week's freak storm.

On Monday, Esperance, 725km southeast of Perth, was declared a natural disaster zone. District nature conservation co-ordinator Mike Fitzgerald said the first reports of birds dropping dead in people's yards came in three weeks ago. More than 500 deaths had since been notified. But the calls stopped suddenly last week, reportedly because no birds were left. "It's very substantial.

We estimate several thousand birds are dead, although we don't have a clear number because of the large areas of bushland," Mr Fitzgerald said. Birds Australia, the nation's main bird conservation group, said it had not heard of a similar occurrence. "Not on that scale, and all at the same time, and also the fact that it's several different species," chief executive Graeme Hamilton said. "You'd have to call that a most unusual event and one that we'd all have to be concerned about."

He expected birds would return to the area once the problem - natural or man-made phenomenon - was fixed but said it was vital the cause was identified. The Department of Agriculture and Food, which conducted the autopsies, has almost ruled out an infectious process.

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Freeze 'condemned Neanderthals'

A sharp freeze could have dealt the killer blow that finished off our evolutionary cousins the Neanderthals, according to a new study.

The ancient humans are thought to have died out in most parts of Europe by about 35,000 years ago. And now new data from their last known refuge in southern Iberia indicates the final population was probably beaten by a cold spell some 24,000 years ago.

The research is reported by experts from the Gibraltar Museum and Spain. They say a climate downturn may have caused a drought, placing pressure on the last surviving Neanderthals by reducing their supplies of fresh water and killing off the animals they hunted. Sediment cores drilled from the sea bed near the Balearic Islands show the average sea-surface temperature plunged to 8C (46F).

Modern-day sea surface temperatures in the same region vary from 14C (57F) to 20C (68F). In addition, increased amounts of sand were deposited in the sea and the amount of river water running into the sea also plummeted. Neanderthals appear in the fossil record about 350,000 years ago and, at their peak, these squat, physically powerful hunters dominated a wide range, spanning Britain and Iberia in the west to Israel in the south and Uzbekistan in the east.

Our own species, Homo sapiens, evolved in Africa, and displaced the Neanderthals after entering Europe about 40,000 years ago. During the last Ice Age, the Iberian Peninsula was a refuge where Neanderthals lived on for several thousand years after they had died out elsewhere in Europe. These creatures (Homo neanderthalensis) had survived in local pockets during previous Ice Ages, bouncing back when conditions improved. But the last one appears to have been characterised by several rapid and severe changes in climate which hit a peak 30,000 years ago.

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The Voynich Manuscript

Elements of the Voynich Manuscript story could fit comfortably into the plot of a Dan Brown best seller. A mysterious, ancient document whose secrets have puzzled scholars and codebreakers for centuries, the 234-page document is written in letters that do not correspond to any known language or code. Multiple theories have been forwarded and different techniques have been employed by linguists, historians and code breakers; no one has translated the document, and it is considered one of the most perplexing cryptological puzzles in the world.

Little of its history is certain; its author, meaning and intended purpose are unknown. It was first purchased by Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II in the 16th century for 300 gold pieces, and appeared in the modern era when art dealer Wilfrid M. Voynich acquired the document from an Italian monastery in 1912. Since the ’20s, the Voynich Manuscript has been kept at Yale University. It’s now in a climate-controlled environment in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, available to students and researchers on a limited basis. “Among the medieval manuscripts, it’s probably one of the more frequently written about,” Robert Babcock, curator of early manuscripts at the Beinecke Library said.

Because of the hand-drawn pictures of plants, astrological diagrams and nude women, researchers believe the book is probably what’s called an “herbal” — a book about plants and their uses. Unfortunately, the illustrations don’t explain the text. In the ’20s, University of Pennsylvania professor William Newbold hypothesized that the visible text is meaningless, but that each character was composed of a series of tiny characters that could only be seen under magnification.

Newbold proposed the hidden text contained information about scientific knowledge that should have been unknown at the time the manuscript was created.

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Soul Suckers

Highgate Cemetery in north London is a spooky place at the best of times, and rumours of ghosts occupying its Victorian crypts and tombs have existed since its consecration in 1839.

And the fact that Karl Marx, father of communism, is buried there only adds to its mystique. However, when a phantom figure was seen in the cemetery in 1967, followed by the discovery of animals sucked of blood in nearly Waterloo Park, rumours began of a vampire. The situation was not helped when a local paper dubbed the phantom the Highgate Vampire in 1970. And on Friday, 13 March of that year, a mass vampire hunt was organised. Hundreds of vampire hunters invaded the cemetery, armed with stakes, garlic and crosses. No vampire was caught, but much vandalism took place and a female corpse was exhumed. In 1974, a further, smaller hunt organised by famed vampire hunter David Farrant, led to claims that a vampire had been caught and destroyed. But rumours of sightings and dead animals continued well into the 1980s.

Many sceptics blame Farrant for the hysteria that led to the mania indulged at Highgate. And a similar character existed in the 12th century in the form of William of Newburgh. Chronicling many cases of ‘vampires’, one story was that of a chaplain of low repute who attended a high-ranking lady. Earning the nickname, Dog Priest, he ignored his vows and spent his time hunting. When he died, he was buried in Melrose Abbey, but several nights later he rose and stalked the building. When monks repulsed him, he appeared in the bedroom of the woman he had served. Terrified, she called the monks to save her. After many more appearances, including one in which he was attacked by a battle-axe, monks forced him back to the grave. Digging up the corpse, the monks burned it.

Such vampire tales are actually quite rare in Britain. But one exception occurred in 1875 when Australian Amelia Cranswell and her two brothers were leasing Croglin Low Hall in Cumbria. One night she looked out the window to see a tall, spindly figure approaching. Soon it was scratching at the window, and once inside, bit her violently about the neck. Hearing her screams, her brothers chased it off. Leaving the hall for a while, in March the following year, the identical incident occurred, and her brothers followed the man to a churchyard. At dawn they entered and found a ‘vampire’ in a state of suspended animation under a slab. They built a bonfire and burned the creature.

No monster terrifies more than a monster in human form. And no human monster arouses such passion as the vampire. Traditionally believed to be a disturbed soul unable to rest, it must sustain itself with life-giving blood. Shunning the day light hours, it rests in its coffin until night, when it rises to seek out its cravings, sucking blood from its victim through a bite on the neck. Associated with the vampire bat, it can take this creature’s form to travel.
Once the lair of the vampire is identified, this other¬worldly creature is usually ruddy of complexion and remarkably fit looking. However, it can be identified by its long finger¬nails and protruding eye teeth, required to accomplish its feeding. If freshly fed, blood will be smeared about the mouth. To dispose of the creature, a stake must be thrust through its heart, the vampire issuing a terrifying scream as you do so. Following this, it must be burned to a cinder without delay. If come upon whilst awake, your only protection is garlic or a crucifix. If unprotected, and it feeds on you, then death may be disturbed. For you might become a vampire yourself. At least, that is the mythology. But is there any reality to the vampire?

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Haunted Castles

FINAVON CASTLE

The castle has been the scene of numerous ghostly sightings and strange phenomena. The most enduring ghosts seem to be the terrifying apparitions of a White Lady and a Blue Lady. The White Lady haunts the dark dungeons, and rises from St Margaret's Tower to the castle ramparts, where she has been seen beckoning to witnesses (as recently as 1987). According to the legend she is the spirit of Margaret Pomeroy, who was imprisoned in the dungeons by her sister Eleanor. Eleanor was jealous of both her beauty and her affections for the man she had designs upon. Margaret slowly starved in the dungeons, a long drawn out and painful death. Whether she is the source of the feeling of unease and horror some people experience at the castle is unknown.

The Blue Lady is not confined to specific areas of the castle and is supposed to lure people into parts of the ruin. Traditionally she is seen as the ghost of the daughter of one of the Norman Lords of the castle. She was raped by her father, who then strangled the resulting child in one of the upper rooms. In other tales it is she who strangles the child, haunting the castle in anguish. When seen, her face is said to portray this suffering. She is regarded as a death portent to members of the Seymour family. Sir Walter Farquar (Dr Farquar) is said to have seen the spirit while he was attending to the wife of one of the Stewards in the 19th Century. She died soon afterwards although she seemed to be making a full recovery.

Another popular tradition relates to the heroic fate of two brothers (Pomeroys), who were besieged at the castle at some point in its history. To save face from a long drawn out defeat, they dressed in full armour, mounted their horses, and rode off the top of the castle ramparts and precipice below. The area was known thereafter as the Pomeroy's leap, and is associated with anomalous noises such as screams and dull thuds. This story may have origins in a real life event, although the occurrence does not appear in written history. The castle has been the scene of many other ghostly sightings and phenomena. Strange lights have been witnessed, voices have been heard, and there have been reported cold spots and freak winds, although the latter is always possible in an open ruin. Other apparitions reported include a lady in a gray dress, the ubiquitous Cavalier, and strange shadows with no earthly presence to cast them. Whatever the nature of the occurrences I have no doubt that strange events will continue to be experienced at the castle, and it is well worth the effort of making a trip to see the romantic ruin.

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Haunted Castles

LUDLOW CASTLE

Ludlow Castle is haunted by the white figure of a 16th century girl, called Marion de la Bryere, who was left at the castle when her custodian was away for a short while. Marion had a lover, Arnold de Lys, who was associated with enemies of the owner and she was in a habit of leaving a rope dangling from the battlements for him to climb into the castle to be with her. On one occasion Marion’s lover brought with him a large force of over 100 men and the castle fell into their hands. Realising that her lover had betrayed her, Marion slew him with a sword whilst he slept and then threw herself from the Hanging Tower to the rocks below. Marion’s ghost can still be seen wandering in the area of the Hanging Tower, reliving the last few moments when she committed suicide after slaying her gallant knight.

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Haunted Castles

EDINBURGH CASTLE

Probably one of the most dramatic settings for a Castle, Edinburgh Castle is set on what was once a a volcano. With a 2000 year history of violence and murder, it's no wonder there are so many tales of hauntings. The most probable explanation of these hauntings goes back to the great plague which ravaged Edinburgh. After the plague had finished its deathly work, city officials thought it best to build the new city on top of the old one. They even entombed people who were still alive, but still suffering from this dreadful disease.

In 1990, while renovating a home, they unwittingly opened the old city. The finds were perfectly preserved, people have talked to spirits (unwittingly), assuming some real person was present. There are tales of beautiful flashing lights come from this "underground city", and voices apparently heard without the presence of anyone. The Castle itself has had numerous reports of hauntings over the centuries. The most famous of these being that of the headless drummer and piper who have been seen playing on the Castles' battlements. although not the most impressive Castle as far as hauntings are concerned, still worth a mention.

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Haunted Castles

THE TOWER OF LONDON

With a long history of execution, murder and torture, is it any wonder the "Tower of London" ranks as one of the most haunted Castles in Britain. its history begins in the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius. He chose the site to build a fort on. Over a 1000 years later William the Conqueror chose the same site on which to build the Tower of London. It is the oldest fortress, palace and prison of its type anywhere in Europe. With a 400 hundred year history of executions: these ranged from hanging, beheading, to being hung or drawn and quartered, it was the perfect recipe for a haunted history.

The first documented sighting of a ghost at the tower was that of Thomas A. Becket. It was reported that during the construction of an inner curtain wall, he appeared and showed his anger at the construction by reducing the wall to a pile of rubble by striking it with his cross. Probably the most persistent ghost is that of Queen Anne Boleyn. On learning that the baby she was carrying was a boy, and heir to the Kings throne, she sadly went on to miscarry the child and was subsequently beheaded on the grounds of adultery and treason. Queen Anne is buried under the chapel's altar, and her body has been seen to walk the corridors of the Tower. She is only recognisable by the dress she wore at her execution.

One of the most gruesome hauntings I have heard about is that of the Countess of Salisbury. At 70 she was given the death penalty on political grounds. As she strode up to the block to be beheaded, she refused to place her neck on the block as all others did, subsequently she fled the scene chased by the executioner. he apparently hacked at her body until she fell down dead...hacked to death. at the scene of this grisly murder it is said you can see the executioners axe doing its deadly deed. Although not an apparition, the haunting in the Salt Tower is for some, very real and very frightening. Said to be one of the most haunted areas in the tower's complex, dogs will not enter this area at all, and and Yeoman Warders will not enter after dark, after a Warder told how he was almost throttled by a strong but unseen force.

As recently as 1995, an American tourist was taking photographs of the Tower. She took a picture of Traitor's Gate. On having the film developed, you can clearly see what appears to be a hand wearing a 16th century Yeoman's uniform.

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HAUNTED CASTLES

WINDSOR CASTLE

Windsor Castle is without doubt one of the most spectacular castles in Britain, if not the world. the Castle has been a Royal residence since the reign of William I(1066-1087).Since that time the Castle has been embroiled in legends of suicide, witchcraft and demonic ghosts: particularly the demonic horned being said to bring death and disease to those who are unfortunate enough to see it.

One of the most famous ghosts reported at the Castle is that of King Henry VIII. Guests at the castle have reported hearing the late kings footsteps along the long hallways of the Castle. Some have even claimed to hear his moans and groans!

The list of ghosts reported at the Castle is endless: King Charles I, has been seen in the Castles library and the canon's house, and although he was beheaded, he is seen as a whole person. King George III who for many years suffered at the hands of mental illness, is seen in the windows directly below the Royal library.

This was the place that the King was kept for many years due to his illness, venturing out on rare occasions. the Duke of Buckingham, Sir George Villiers, is said to haunt one of the Castles bedrooms, and the Castles long walk is said to be haunted by numerous ghosts, including that of a soldier whom while on guard duty, is said to have committed suicide after he saw statues in the Castle moving on their own. He shot himself!

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Area 51

Area 51 as seen from a satellite

Fact or Fiction ?
Area 51, also known as Groom Lake, is a secret military facility about 90 miles north of Las Vegas. The number refers to a 6-by-10-mile block of land, at the center of which is a large air base the government will not discuss. The site was selected in the mid-1950s for testing of the U-2 spy plane, due to its remoteness, proximity to existing facilities and presence of a dry lake bed for landings.

Groom Lake is America's traditional testing ground for "black budget" aircraft before they are publicly acknowledged. The facility and surrounding areas are also associated - with varying levels of credibility - with UFO and conspiracy stories. In 1989, Bob Lazar claimed on a Las Vegas television station that he had worked with alien spacecraft at Papoose Lake, south of Area 51. Since then, "Area 51" has become a popular symbol for the alleged U.S. Government UFO cover-up. For decades the rumours have flown as to what really exists at Area 51.The American government have always rejected the claims as to its existence, not even admitting to it being used as a development site for aircraft. Because of their reluctance to this, the rumours as to what the base is used for have persisted. The experts say it is merely a site for the research and development of military aircraft. The skeptics to this believe it has been the center of major ufo investigations, even going as far as to claim that the base actually holds "unidentified flying objects".

Area 51 image gallery

History of Area 51
For a government facility the size of Area 51 not to be acknowledged gives you an idea how secretive the work carried out there is. Even with the weight of video and photographic proof, the American government are reluctant to speak about it. For decades it has been well documented that groom lake is used as a research and development facility for some of America's finest aircraft

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Storm Clouds Gather

Erwin Shroedinger's book "What is life?" claimed that one of life's urgent criteria is the storage and transmission of information, e.g., a code that transfers this information from parent to child, and was both complex and compact enough to fit inside a single cell, and this code had to be at molecular level.

Scientists believed Shroedinger’s genetic code was carried by the D.N.A. Insurance companies claim that by an examination of the D.N.A, they can tell not only what diseases a person will suffer, but when, even claiming to know pretty closely the length of life. They would do this, primarily to know whom to accept for life insurance and who not.

This information would also benefit employers, preparatory documents exploring this have been discussed by the C.B. I. (Confederation of British industry) The scientific establishment accepts and supports these findings quite readily, yet has baulked over the centuries when palmists have made the same claims. It is actually quite amusing for serious research palmists to have had their research vindicated by something as dubious as insurance companies, and under the counter back street Dr. Mengele type genetics laboratories.

A recent edition of the British Medical Journal ran the headline,” no one can predict the future”, but each day the weather forecaster does just that, the stock exchange does it daily, the futures market sells produce years before it has been grown.

International money dealers do it months in advance and sales projection graphs in companies are built on it. Remember Nick Leason, gambling millions of pounds of monies not yet even earned.

The old Soviet Union ran university courses on it, the K.G. B. used it as a departmental tool, so why is it impossible to predict the future? A specialised knowledge in any field must give prior knowledge. Albert Einstein, a believer in prediction, said;” Random systems eventually produce predictable patterns”.

Theoretically, an expert studies his material until he sees this pattern, and it is upon this pattern that he builds his estimation of future trends. Such old establishment names as the B.B.C., Proctor and gamble, Marks and Spencer, and the Society of Cosmetic Scientists, subscribe vast financial sums to what are termed “futurologists” for future prediction. In fact the Soviets took so seriously such predictive organisations as the “Henley forecasting centre,” and the “European planning federation”, that they spied on them continually. Strangely, mediums have an exceptional record in contacting the dead, but not too good in pinpointing future events.

A wise old Greek philosopher once said, " the improbable but possible, is always preferable to the probable but impossible".

Today's palm print is of a well-known British football personality.
Football today generates huge sums of money out of all proportion to the contribution it makes, and football and loutish behaviour goes together like politics and corruption. Psychologists agree that encouraging one nation over another breed's racism and division. This is not helped by government policy of mixing football in with the national news, even mentioning it before the casualties during the war on Iraq. Any obsessive behaviour is psychologically suspect, and so many are dependent on football for their fix, to the unhealthy degree that it governs their lives, and their behaviour.

Our subject today is as well known for drunken brawling and traffic offences as his sport, never the less he is the idol of many " older schoolboys" countrywide, for his colourful personality, his fancy footwork, and "sporting" prowess. His popularity remains undiminished no matter what the newspapers may say. The tabloid press quoted him recently at a court appearance for drunken brawling, " I would sooner pay a fine of thousands of pounds, than end up in prison alongside scum like thieves, paedophiles and I. R. A. men."

The palm print shows a very heavy stiff thumb set low, this feature with the short fingers shown, with the long palm with its broad base, someone with great physical energy, a typical sportsman, in fact, able to think and sum up very quickly, but someone not head centred at all, alas footballers are trained from school boys to be physical athletes, not intellectuals, and the strain of knowing you will be thrown over by the time you are in your thirties, pushes many to live for today, Psychologists generally agree that the lure of football, is a homo-erotic one, the all boys together with no trousers on, the leather balls, the Freudian symbolism of trying to put your balls in someone's net, the net representing the feminine aspect, and the kissing and groping on the pitch. Coupled to the alcohol, laddism, voyeurism and the revolting "roasting rituals, does not inspire confidence, and is far from masculine behaviour. However, the thickening of the lifeline after the influence line hits it from Venus (the thumb), tells us that like a river widening, it becomes sluggish, the gastric system becomes damaged through drink and drugs at this time.

Dated on the lifeline at 23 years of age, coinciding with his first conviction for anti social behaviour. He is known as a practical joker but add alcohol to the equation and fireworks usually ensue. A thick longish square palm, with short fingers can show a performer, or show off, an ability to gauge the emotional temperature of an audience, and play to it, his extroversion on field is legendary.

His present determination to get back to peak fitness, and to conquer his demons, has been difficult, often people addicted to exercise, have only used it to replace an addiction to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, along with short destructive addictive relationships. As shown by his ragged and fragmentary heart line, and curved little finger. This is not helped by his argumentative and pugnacious disposition. I did warn him of indications of career trouble ahead, as storm clouds were gathering, and the next few months would be crucial, both to watch his step, and not to drop his guard.- as a scandal was looming up fast, as depicted by the Appollo transcendant.

Some palmists see the spine or backbone represented in the hand by the fate line, that is the longitudinal line that runs from the wrist to the middle finger, this hand only has the later part most visible,- after the age of 34,and retirement from football, when his hell raising is over, so after this age he finds contentment, the lull after the storm, if you look at the top part of the fate line you see it kinks toward the Jupiter or first finger, this kink is often a sign of whiplash injury, as it is in the neck area or slightly lower.

Our footballer drives a very fast car and has had several crashes over a three-year period, "bumps" he calls them. The thickness of his thumb, is called by the older style palmists, "the murderers thumb, as it shows " a raging temper when thwarted, and these "bumps" in his car usually lead to fisticuffs, and appearances in both court and the Sunday papers. Incidentally, the thick basal phalange on Jupiter is often linked to the stomach and food intake, and it can show eating problems or alcoholism, the gap in the print appeared in each copy taken, and served to amplify coming health problems in that region. Unluckily for a footballer he shows feet and ankle difficulties also. He claims this is all in the past, as are the drink related incidents. His non appearances last season coincide with his belief that he is being watched by aliens, and that they are responsible for house keys going missing, milk turning sour, that Vanessa Phelps is really John Prescott in drag, and the American moon landing pictures were faked in Arizona. But away from the drink and drugs he seems quite well.

President Nixon once said; "he who has not stood at the foot of the valley, cannot appreciate the view from the mountain top", and his mountain view is still not there.

His body type is Mesomorph, the muscular type with strong arms and legs, in later life their main weakness is the cardio-vascular system, and the stop-start heart line is indicative of nervous heart or tachicardia, which often goes with the anxiety shown in his early fifties. Here big changes are apparent in the markings leading up from the heart line toward the fingers, confirmed by no moons on his fingernails.

The good news is really in his late thirties, using his sports monies in business ventures, there is much fulfilment for him, his hands speak of journalism, perhaps radio, fast foods, and some sort of sales franchise, and in or close to his 35th year a secure warm relationship which is far more nourishing than his hit and miss, here today gone tomorrow quickies he is used to, our football star worries about losing all the money he made as a young star, which will have to carry him into old age, but in the words of Hilaire Beloc, "loss and possession, death and life are one, there falls no shadow where there shines no sun", so in essence while the sun shines he must make "financial" hay. He feels a certain amount of guilt about the way he has led his life, and concern over meeting his maker, I reminded him; "its not the certainty of death that frightens people, it's the uncertainty of life ".

Our footballer exclaimed that he did not believe in stuff like this, and I reminded him of the saying; "there is more faith in honest doubt, that in all the creeds put together," and to look forward to his new life after age 35.

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Telepathy

Telepathy is direct mind-to-mind communication. Telepathy comes from the Greek tele, meaning distance and pathe meaning 'feeling' and is a form of ESP, i.e. the ability to perceive extra-sensory information, i.e. information not usually available to the five senses of sight, sound, taste, feel and smell. The information is said to be received in the form of thoughts, ideas, feelings, images or sounds.

Scientific investigation of telepathy began with the research undertaken by the Society for Psychical Research, founded in 1882 by a group of Cambridge scholars for the purposes of investigating paranormal phenomena , a study known these days as parapsychology. The word 'telepathy' was adopted by one of the founders of the Society for Psychical Research.

Tests for telepathy involved using Zener cards, which are a pack of 25 cards consisting of five symbols each appearing five times. The sender would look at card and the subject would attempt to perceive the symbol directly from the researchers' mind - sometimes the receiver and the sender would be in different rooms, or different buildings. The sender transmits the information, concentrating on the symbol on the card they have just drawn, while the receiver perceives the information.

Telepathy commonly exists between people who are close, for instance, mother and child. Often it can occur spontaneously in times of crisis when a loved one is in an accident or suffering some trauma. Their partner, or relative, may experience pain or feelings similar to what the victim is suffering.

J B Rhine, who carried out ESP tests in the US from the 1930s onwards, made the distinction between testing for clairvoyance, precognition or telepathy. He found that it was hard to differentiate between them in experimentation. For clairvoyance the researcher doesn't look at the card he or she has drawn, because otherwise the subject could be receiving the information from the researcher's mind which would be telepathy. Likewise, precognition tests for the ability to perceive the future so the subject needs to predict what the next card to be drawn will be.

Dream telepathyNew York psychiatrist, Montague Ullman, became interested in the possibility of sending and receiving telepathic messages while asleep through dreams . In 1953 Ullman started experiments to investigate dream telepathy. The receiver starts dreaming when they enter REM sleep so the sender needs to transmit needs strong, visual messages in the form of easily recognisable images at this time. His research did lead to positive results, with receivers reporting dreams that reflected the content of the images the senders were transmitting.

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Vampires

Do the undead roam the Earth drinking human blood? Or is there a medical explanation for vampirism?
When Arnod Paole was attacked by a vampire, he knew what to do to save his soul. He tracked the creature to its grave and thrust a stake through its heart, smearing his own body with the blood. He would often retell the tale to fellow villagers, drawing gasps of admiration. Life carried on as normal, that is until Paole fell and broke his neck. He was buried at the local graveyard where he seemed to come back to life.

Villagers began complaining about being bothered by Paole, and dead bodies were found, drained of blood. Rumours of vampirism spread and a group of Austrian Army officers were sent to investigate. They dug up Paole's body, and confirmed everyone's fears.

The officers reported that Paole's body was complete, to the point that there was no sign of decay. They claimed to have seen fresh blood flow from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. They also said that Paole's old skin and finger nails had been shed, and that new ones had replaced them. On seeing this, it is claimed that the officers then proceeded to drive a stake through his heart, at which point an audible groan was heard and Paole began to bleed profusely.

This is one of many reports of vampirism from an officers account in the 1730's entitled 'Seen and Discovered'. The report goes on to mention several exhumations in the area, and the supposed 'Epidemic of Vampirism'. It wasn't argued at the time that something was indeed happening to the bodies post-mortem, but does this prove the truth behind vampirism?

The Modern Myth
A survey carried out by the California State University revealed that more than 27% of people believed in the existence of vampires. If asked what they thought a vampire would look like, they described the creature as it was portrayed in the 1897 novel 'Dracula' written by Bram Stoker. They depict him as a handsome aristocrat, who is sexually attracted to both males and females. He sleeps by day in his coffin, then awakes at night to take flight and find his unsuspecting victims whose blood he drinks. Despite these super-human powers, the vampire is scared of crosses, garlic and light.

Despite the beliefs, there have developed over the years two different types of vampire. The folklore vampire is the one that seems to have been around for longest. These creatures have been reported for centuries by villages who claim to have been victimised by the vampires. The big difference between the two types of vampire, are, the folklore vampire would never stray far from his village. He would not live in a coffin, but would occupy the graveyard and select a local victim. The media version is depicted as most people understand the word 'vampire' to mean. An aristocratic man with special powers. This kind of depiction has been the result of numerous films and novels, whereby the author depicts the vampire in to this fictional character. The folklore vampire has been around for at least two centuries. Peoples ignorance to the bodies decomposition resulted in a myth being born.

Today science can fully explain the nature of a decomposing body. It is now known that after death the body begins to decay. This process includes the body swelling to a size the person would never reach in life. In the male, the genitalia would swell to an abnormal size. The body as it decomposes would produce gases. To a person two hundred years ago these effects caused them to believe that the body was actually producing gas and the person was breaking wind. The man's erect penis would be seen as a sign of sexual arousal and that they were excited in some way. The swelling was seen as a confirmation of the bodies healthy state.

The main method of destroying the body they believed to be a vampire was to drive a stake through its heart. This would then cause the bodies gases to escape causing the a sound of breaking wind, and in some cases, a groan. If they suspected that the vampire was still alive they would cut the heart from the body and burn both body and heart separately. This type of behaviour was common place at this time, with vampire hunters exhuming many bodies they suspected had been cursed by a vampire. They even went as far as to burn the bodies of animals.

Because of the lack of knowledge concerning sudden deaths from unknown infectious diseases, an outbreak of a disease would cause an outbreak of vampires, thus a legend was born and when anybody died from a disease or died because they had contact with a diseased person, the locals would believe they had been a victim of a vampire.

It is pretty easy to understand in those times how a mistake of this kind could be made. There lack of scientific knowledge would lead them to think that disease, decay and all the other mistaken signs were in fact, something quite sinister.

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Sasquatch exhibit starts run at state Capital Museum

John Callender swears he saw Bigfoot deep in the woods near Montesano on Friday.
"It was something walking upright, like a human," the Federal Way resident said. According to Callender, it was too late at night and too remote an area for the shadowy figure to be human. And its stride was far to big to belong to any man. Callender was one of more than 120 people who attended the opening day of a new yearlong Bigfoot exhibit at the Capital Museum. "Giants in the Mountains: The Search for Sasquatch" explores the history and evidence of the hairy, human-like beast that is so much a part of Pacific Northwest lore. The exhibit includes never-before-displayed artifacts and artwork, such as reproductions of footprints and an ape-like stone head found in the Columbia Basin.

There also is information about stories and sightings by tribes worldwide. Some of the younger visitors decided the evidence was pretty compelling. "I think maybe he's real. This footprint is truly amazing," 6-year-old Colson Utter of Olympia said while examining a 17-inch cast of a footprint through a magnifying glass. Diane Utter said Colson and his younger brother Eli, 4, are fascinated by Sasquatch.

"They're always asking me to look at it on the Internet. They're always asking if it's real and who believes in it," she said. The Steiner siblings are torn.

"There's a lot of convincing sightings," 9-year-old Jack Steiner said. But he and his sister Emma, 12, have a hard time believing Sasquatch could survive in modern times. "The only weird thing is ... since we have so much development and with cutting down the forests — how can they live? These are big creatures. What are they eating?" Emma said.

Museum manager Susan Rohrer said it took a year to compile the research and artifacts. Museum staff plan to have educational programs throughout the length of the exhibit, including a panel in spring of representatives from local tribes who will talk about the stories and cultural significance of Bigfoot. She said the exhibit goes beyond evidence of Bigfoot's existence.

"We wanted to tell the story of the Northwest culture that is the basis of Sasquatch," she said.

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Regarding So-called "Alien Abductions"

I have been invited to write an article addressing the so-called "alien abduction" phenomenon, which is widely discussed to in certain circles.
After I had written the article below, I heard from Elaine Douglas, the editor at JAR (Journal of Abduction-Encounter Research), asking me to provide a fuller, more "detailed" article. My response was that, first, I needed to see actual evidence to support the claims that this phenomenon is proven to be extraterrestrial in nature and origin, as opposed to either done by (known or unknown) terrestrial parties, or that it is largely a form of mass hysteria, or a combination of both.

I waited an extraordinary amount of time without receiving any such evidence. This is all the more remarkable considering how promptly I received a critique from Ms. Douglas pointing out perceived weaknesses in my own research, references to the evidence, etc. Absent such verifiable evidence, if it even actually exists, the claims that the perpetrators are "aliens" cannot be supported and, at best, they must be considered as anecdotal. With that in mind, I direct you to my article below, which is pretty much as I originally submitted it.

I should add that Ms. Douglas had viewed my providing links to specific articles and information that I reference as some sort of avoidance and/or shifting of responsibility to the reader for work that I should have done. In light of the rather significant failure of Ms. Douglas and PAR to provide me with the material that I requested, I neither need to provide any further information nor to spend any more time and energy in attempting to provoke people to do their own thinking.

Please note that I do not claim that the people who feel that they have suffered harm have not suffered it. I simply question the theory or premise that it originates with extraterrestrial beings.

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GHOST WALK: More to Lewiston than meets the eye

As twilight began to creep across the evening sky, I found myself standing among a crowd of about 30 other ghost seekers at the Lewiston Visitor’s Center with camera in hand, anxious and uncertain of what would unfold in the next 90 minutes.
With the promise of ghost lore, stories of the paranormal, earth energies, and UFOs to boot, the historical Ghost Walks of Lewiston sounded like something straight out of an episode of “X-Files.” Presented with the opportunity to take part in my own adventure, I was intrigued. However, my hopes of catching a my own X-File onto my digital memory card were dashed within the first few minutes, as tour guide and supernatural historian Mason Winfield explained right off the bat how rare ghost sightings are.

Putting a unique spin on the paranormal and challenging the popular revengeful ghost stereotype, Winfield went on to reject the plot of the movie “Ghost,” arguing that for the most part, spirits are pretty docile. “The Hollywood reason ghosts come back is because of unfinished business,” he said. “Real-life witnesses have seen people doing ordinary things.

They have come a long way to finish mopping the floor.” On that note, we were off to our first stop known to have things go bump in the night. The red, two-floor structure on Center Street was formerly home to Hotchkiss Enterprises, which in its heyday included a quarry business, a casket manufacturing operation and possibly even a funeral home. With such a morbid history, it was surprising to see the building still in use, housing the offices of Hunt Realty.

If by some chance I did end up seeing a ghost in Lewiston, odds were she’d be dressed in a long flowing white dress, the town’s No. 1 reoccurring supernatural vision. Even though the little girl ghost image is the top sighting in North America, due to the warlike history of the region, Winfield surmised this could have much to do with why more visions of pallid women are reported here than anywhere else. Perhaps it was the story of a pasty woman carrying a parasol and strolling back and forth in the second floor Hunt building window, or the accounts of papers being rustled and the sound of footsteps walking around. Or maybe it was the combination of the setting sun mixed with the fact we were standing no more than 30 yards away from where dead bodies were once carted back and forth.

Whatever it was, it was a nice feeling when we started walking again. As our pack moved through the streets, dodging cars and taking second looks at deepening shadows of the rising moon, there were still no observable signs of paranormal activity. As we walked the hilly inclines of pavement, Winfield continued to narrate stories peppered with historical fact and a dose of the supernatural.

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Whack to Head, Not Arrow, Killed Iceman

A final blow to the head, not an arrow wound, killed Ötzi, the 5,000-year-old Iceman found in the Italian Alps, says a new study on the world's oldest and best-preserved mummy.
Presented at the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman at the European Academy in Bolzano, a new research center launched in July, the study re-examines forensic data, various CT scans, and focuses on the unnatural position in which the mummy was found.

"The Iceman's body doesn’t only feature the already known arrowhead wound on the shoulder and wounds on the hand. There is also a traumatic cerebral lesion caused by a frontal attack," the academy said in a statement. Found in Ötzi's left shoulder in 2001, the stone arrowhead was thought to have caused the prehistoric man’s death, fatally severing his left subclavian artery. Now a team of researchers which include prehistory professor Andreas Lippert from the University of Vienna, radiologists Paul Gostner and Patrizia Pernter from the Bolzano regional hospital, and Eduard Egarter Vigl, Ötzi's official caretaker at the South Tyrol Archaeological Museum in Bolzano, have reopened the debate.

They believe that blood loss from the arrow wound would have only made Ötzi lose consciousness. According to the researchers, death came from a violent blow to the head. Either the man’s killer gave Ötzi the final whack, possibly by hitting him with a stone, or he could have fallen over backward and hit his head on a rock.

Whatever the scenario, "death was caused by a cerebral trauma," the researchers concluded. Egarter and colleagues believe they have also solved another long-standing mystery: Ötzi’s unnatural posture in death. When the Iceman was found by accident in 1991 in a melting glacier in the Ötztal Alps ­— hence the Ötzi name — his frozen body was face down, with the left arm bent across the chest. It was thought that the position of the left arm was due to Ötzi’s effort to stop the hemorrhage or the acute pain.

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Could a Child's Imaginary Friend Actually be a Ghost?

Does your child have an imaginary friend?
Maybe you had an imaginary friend yourself when you were a child. Psychologists will tell you that there are several reasons why a young one may concoct an imaginary friend. Sometimes a young child just needs to have a special friend.

Their imagination is very vivid and can seem almost real to them. Sometimes they create an imaginary friend to keep them company and share their thoughts, someone who will always listen to them. In most cases psychologists are probably correct in their explanations. Could it be possible that some children's imaginary friends may be more than just products of their own imagination? What if a supernatural entity such as a ghost somehow made contact with a child? Especially if very young a child would not think anything out of the ordinary.

They would see the entity as being real and in most cases would be unafraid. Since the adults would most likely not be open to recognizing or perceiving the ghostly entity it would be assumed that the child simply had a vivid imagination. Believe it or not there have been cases where an imaginary friend did in fact turn out to be something more. What would you think if your child met an imaginary friend soon after you moved into an old house? Your daughter has a name for her imaginary friend and can even tell you things about them like where they died. I am sure that you would be a little concerned about her ascribing a death to her friend though she claims to see them and talk with them daily.

She may even bring them to the dinner table. Now, lets say that you become concerned enough by some of the statements that your child makes about her friend that you decide to ask questions around the neighborhood. One of the neighbors informs you that a child by that name did live in that very house but that she had died years ago. When the circumstances surrounding her death is explained to you, you realize that your daughter had real information from somewhere about what had occurred.

As amazing as it my seem to many of us there can be no doubt that something much more than imagination was at play here. If her friend was truly a product of her own imagination how did she know the name? How did she come to know other aspects about the girl's life and her death?

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Tutankhamun died in a hunting accident

The mystery behind the sudden death of Tutankhamun, the boy king who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, may have been finally solved by scientists who believe that he fell from a fast-moving chariot while out hunting in the desert.
Speculation surrounding Tutankhamun's death has been rife since his tomb was broken into in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter. X-rays of the mummy taken in 1968 indicated a swelling at the base of the skull, suggesting "King Tut" was killed by a blow to the head.More recent studies using a CT medical scanner, however, revealed he suffered a badly broken leg, just above his knee just before he died. That in turn probably led to lethal blood poisoning.

Now further evidence has come to light suggesting that he suffered the fracture while hunting game from a chariot.The new findings are still circumstantial but one of Egypt's leading experts on Tutankhamun will say in a television documentary to be screened this week that he believes the case is now solved on how the boy king met his sudden and unexpected end.

"He was not murdered as many people thought. He had an accident when he was hunting in the desert. Falling from a chariot made this fracture in his left leg and this really is in my opinion how he died," said Zahi Hawass, general secretary of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. Until now, many historians had assumed that he was treated as a rather fragile child who was cosseted and protected from physical danger. However, Nadia Lokma of the Cairo Museum said that a recent analysis of the chariots found in the tombs of the pharaohs indicated that they were not merely ceremonial but show signs of wear and tear. Hundreds of arrows recovered from the tomb also show evidence of having been fired and recovered.

"These chariots are hunting chariots, not war chariots. You can see from the wear on them that they were actually used in life," Dr Lokma said. A cache of clothing found in Tutankhamun's tomb, which was stored in the vaults of the Cairo Museum, suggest that he was accustomed to riding these chariots himself. They include a specially-adapted corset which would have protected the wearer's abdominal organs from any damage from an accident or the heavy jostling of a chariot ride.

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